Hope for no load-shedding this week

While progress to recover capacity at the Majuba power station continues, Eskom is hopeful that no load-shedding will be needed for the rest of this week.

In a statement on Tuesday, the power utility said its team at Majuba was working around the clock to recover capacity with their efforts already having spared the country from load-shedding on Monday and Tuesday.

The country experienced rolling blackouts at the weekend after one of the silos at the Majuba, which is located in Mpumalanga, cracked and later collapsed on Saturday. The silo had housed over 10 000 tons of coal.

“We are hopeful that their efforts will enable us to avoid load shedding entirely this week. The Majuba power station has ramped up to generating capacity of 1 200MW which has helped significantly with the management of our dam levels at our peaking power stations which use water to generate electricity,” said Eskom.

However, the system will remain constrained on Wednesday and Thursday with Eskom appealing to consumers to reduce their electricity usage throughout the day but especially from 6pm to 10pm.

The utility asked the public to switch off geysers, air conditioners, pool pumps and all non-essential appliances to prevent the need for rotational load-shedding.

“Should we need to go into load shedding, customers will be alerted as early as possible.

“While we will make every effort to avoid load shedding, we are hopeful that by applying these measures, coupled with support from all electricity consumers, we will achieve the required load reduction necessary to protect the national grid.”

Additionally, Eskom is aware that certain suburbs in the north and south of Johannesburg are without power due to a technical fault on the Municipality’s Prospect Substation and that a restoration process is underway.

Load-shedding schedules will only be utilised for the duration of the constraint and Eskom will provide regular updates on the status of the power system.

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About Alan Straton: Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."